Impulsivity
by Miles Upshur's parental figure
Summary: I had acted with impulse, like a human.


A/N: Hey guys! This is my first fanfic for The Book Thief. I did my best to keep everybody in character, and I believe I succeeded!

* * *

*****FOR YOUR INFORMATION*****

**Liesel Meminger was special. She was also darkness. She had been born in darkness, raised by darkness, and was fully surrounded by it, both literally and metaphorically.**

*****LIESEL'S SITUATION*****

**She had decided to steal a book. There was only one problem. Another person had seen her steal the book from the mayor's house.**

They had contacted the police, who had chased her down Himmel street and through an alleyway. She hopped inside one of the abandoned buildings on the right and hid behind a piece of furniture.

The power had went out in this particular building once she had caught her breath. She heard whispering nearby, and calculated the odds. There was a chance she could stumble in the dark and give away her position.

There was also the chance she'd manage to sneak past the officers and run outside to sweet, sweet freedom.

Well, bittersweet freedom, as she soon found out.

On her way out she knocked over a stool. An officer fired their gun as they jumped. It was an accident, really. An accident that I'm glad had happened. I'm guilty to say it, though.

The bullet struck Liesel who let out a tense cry of pain. She staggered off, clenching her wounded shoulder in an attempt to apply pressure to stop the bleeding.

In her other hand was _The Age of Innocence._ Blood dripped down the cover, leaving a faint trail as she limped away.

She was about nine houses away from Hans and Rosa when she collapsed on the cold, hard pavement. Her blood stained the cement. She struggled to crawl to anything that could permit her to sit up and lean against.

The sky was a smoky blue that was quickly turning into bold shades of purple, yellow, and orange when I arrived. The clouds were small and wispy and covered by the smoke from a burning building four blocks away. The sun wrestled the horizon as the sky darkened by the minute.

I hardly had time to check the sky any longer after I realized who was there. Liesel Meminger sat on the bloody sidewalk, groaning as the blood in her wound seeped through the spaces between her fingers.

I had rushed, too. She wasn't dead.

*****A DECISION*****

**I could either wait for the Book Thief to bleed out, or I could help her.**

I knew I was defying every rule in the book when I knelt down beside her.

"Liesel Meminger."

Those were the first words I ever spoke to a human.

Her head weakly tilted up to meet my eyes. Her's were dull.

"W-who are you? How do you know my name?"

Weakly, she added, "Can you please help me?"

I peered over to the wound on her shoulder and back to her face.

"Where are my manners?" If this were any other situation, I might've chucked.

"I'm Death."

Her reaction was almost immediate.

Fear.

Her breathing quickened. She started shaking. Her eyes were wide.

"I... I'm going to die, aren't I?" Her voice cracked and her lip quivered.

I looked at her with what I could say was my best attempt at a look of tenderness. "No, Liesel. It's not your time. Not yet."

"Then why are you here?" She seemed genuinely confused for a moment.

I made my decision.

"I'm here to help you."

She gawked at me in surprise.

"This is my first time ever speaking to a human, much less helping one escape death."

"Why me?"

"Why not you?" I silently challenged her to give a me reason. If she had given me a reason, I would still save her.

She was silent.

Defeat.

"You, child, are special. You intrigue me." I paused, and looked up at the sky. The sun's descent had quickened and the sky was a beautiful arrangement of purple, yellow, and orange. It looked like it was painted onto a canvas with watercolors.

"I stayed on the train with you after your brother died. I couldn't help it. Something about you grabbed my attention." I studied her response after speaking.

Her eyes were glazed over. Tears filled her eyes with the memory of her brother. She quickly wiped them away with her good arm.

It still astounds me how humans can battle the urge to cry at their worst memories.

She groaned once more and I knew I had to do something quick before she succumbed to her wounds. If I left her to bring help, she might believe that I was leaving her to die.

There were really only a few ways I could help.

I chose the first one that my mind conjured up. Gingerly, I tucked my hands under her arms and legs and lifted her off of the bloody ground.

I turned on my heel and rushed for her house as fast as I possibly could. She coughed, and looked up at me. Her eyes were tired and lifeless.

"Hans!" I shouted. "Rosa!"

The door swung open and Rosa walked out holding a wooden spoon. "What, Sakuerl?" She bellowed before turning around.

Her face went white as I approached, just three houses away, and she turned to the door. "Hans! Get an arzt! A doctor!"

Hans stepped out of the house and gasped. He ran to the next-door neighbors. Luckily, the father of the five person family had experience as a doctor.

The man, Heinz Alger, was a short, mustached man with a large nose and balding hair. He skittered over to me with bandages and tools to remove the bullet.

After gently placing Liesel in the man's arms, I had to turn away. My dark, circular beating heart was full of unbearable guilt. There were so many I hadn't saved, yet I was saving this child.

I wasn't supposed to interfere with human affairs.

This time, however, I had. My lip quivered and my eyes widened in awe as I realized what I had done.

*****MY SITUATION*****

**There I was, standing on Himmel Street. My cold, pale hands were caked in Liesel Meminger's blood. My clothes were stained with it, too**.

I glanced over to Liesel, whose eyes seemed to refocus as Heinz Alger continued his life-saving work.

I had saved a human. I had broken the rules. I had acted impulsive. Would I be punished? I had made certain nobody was watching, but it could still happen.

I entertained this thought for what felt like hours before I felt a small hand place itself onto my right shoulder. It broke through my musings.

I followed the hand to an arm and up to the face of Liesel Meminger, who gave me a warm but weak smile.

"Thank you."

*****A SMALL FACT ABOUT MYSELF*****

**No one had ever thanked me before.**

It was a strange feeling, being thanked. Inside, I felt a strange warmth.

Liesel's dangerous brown eyes had their inquisitive spark again, and I felt a sudden twinge of nervousness.

I prevented a death, something Life was supposed to do, not I. She hadn't even arrived at the scene like I had expected. Had she known?

I stood up from my place on the ground and Liesel's arm fell back to her side. I towered over her, though there was no sign of fear in her eyes.

"I... don't usually do this sort of thing." My eyes darted towards the ground left of her and back up, meeting her eyes.

Her face twisted in confusion.

"Talking to humans, I mean." It felt awkward, speaking to her.

She seemed to understand how I was feeling, which was something I had never seen from a human before. It should've been impossible. Liesel Meminger was special, indeed.

She squinted up. "Do you ever just stop and look at the sky?" Liesel's voice was tiny and quiet, her attention on the beautiful night and its stars.

I nodded and then realized she wasn't looking at me. "Yes, actually." I answered, gazing up at the heavens as well.

What I found made me smile ever so slightly.

*****THE SKY*****

**It was my favorite color of the sky tonight. Dark chocolate. The stars twinkled, big and bright and intense. The moon was a small white speck compared to the enormous black clouds. The smoke from the burning house still remained, and it reminded me of the plane crash.**

I turned to her, suddenly compelled to tell her something. Her eyes were trained on the moon when I spoke.

"Liesel."

Her head quickly turned in my direction. "Yes?" For someone talking to Death himself, she seemed unusually calm.

"Remember when there was a plane crash? There was a man and your friend handed him a teddy bear." I spoke as smooth as I could, though I was quite nervous. Having conversations with humans is not what I am supposed to do.

Her eyes seemed to stare at something behind me. "I could feel something cold. It didn't seem natural."

So she had noticed me.

I was intrigued. How had she felt my presence? I couldn't keep my mouth shut. "That was me." I said, and she glanced at me strangely. It was a look filled with surprise and it seemed to almost scream "I had a feeling it was you."

I coughed and looked away. "That man," I began, "He thanked you and Rudy."

She didn't answer me, and I don't know what she would've said if she had. She just looked at the ground in front of my feet.

Her mouth opened. My thoughts reversed themselves. Maybe she would give me her answer.

"You seem tired." She said instead. I wasn't expecting that. I could not, under any circumstances, let her know about my job, though.

"What makes you think that?" I asked, genuinely interested in what she had to say.

"You look drained, like you're dragging yourself around instead of walking." Liesel murmured, studying my face.

I wanted to tell her to not worry about me; that it wasn't her business, but instead I said, "You're very observant."

She smiled at me, but then her expression grew serious. "If you're Death, how are you living?"

I never would've considered her asking something like that.

"I don't live, I simply exist." That was the best explanation I could give her.

She seemed to understand that I couldn't exactly answer her question, and she backed off of the subject.

We talked for what felt like hours. It was mere minutes. My schedule wasn't going to wait any longer, and I put my hand on her shoulder.

"Liesel," I began, and she looked up at me.

"I must leave. I'm sorry, but you cannot remember this encounter. Nobody can. I'm sorry, Liesel."

Before she had time to react, she fell unconscious in my arms. I delicately placed her on the ground as if she was the soul of a newborn child. Her book was still clutched in her hand.

I quickly did the same to Hans, Rosa, and Heinz. They would never remember any of this.

I left Himmel Street that night. The only thing I took was one glance back.

There was work to be done.

* * *

A/N: My decision to have Death reveal his identity to Liesel was actually a really impulsive thought I had, so I incorporated my thoughts into the story by having him realize that he acted like a human by being impulsive. It feels like I rushed the ending, though.


End file.
